Order of the Ascendant Sword
The Order of the Ascendant Sword are a minor Order Militant of the Adepta Sororitas established on the hive-world of Sternberg. Drawn from a Precepatory of Battle-Sisters from the Order of the Argent Shroud, the new Order was formed in the wake of Sternberg's liberation in 899.M39. They are charged by the Imperium and Ecclesiarchy with maintaining a vigil of Sub-Sector Bachenwold and to quash any resurgence of rebellion or heresy. History Founding (899 - 914.M39) The Ascendant Sword's founding can be traced back to the insurrection of Sternberg under its then-Governor - the charismatic and authoritarian Lucius Voss - in 899.M39. After the Governor's tenure of increasingly-harsh crackdowns on a brutalised underhive civilian population, followed by a brash declaration of independence from the Imperium during the latest tithing of the world's Militarum recruits (including the deaths of dispatched Imperial officials), fighting broke out between the divided Guard regiments as their loyalties between the Imperium and to the Governor drove them apart. A panicked distress call was dispatched from the hive's Astro-station shortly before the Governor's rampaging lackeys sacked it. The favor of the God-Emperor, however, was with His besieged sons and daughters. In-system, a detachment of the Adepta Sororitas ''had been en route to duties in a nearby sector when the desperate psychic transmission reached their assigned convoy's Astropaths. Canoness-Preceptor Themis Varia - hearing from her Naval liaisons that there were no other Imperial forces close enough to heed the call for help - thus diverted her Sisters to make planetfall on Sternberg and to link up with Imperial loyalists on the surface. Despite months of Imperial toil to reclaim the hive capital, much of the hive had been reduced to rubble by the grinding battles of attrition waged between the Loyalist and Voss-afiliated regiments. With much of her detatchment's mobility severely curtailed, Canoness Varia settled on a bold operation: a jetpack-assisted assault directly against the walls of Voss' fortified palacial estate at the topmost levels of the hive, assisted by Sternbergite Guardsmen and other Sisters fighting their way through the rebel lines. While not without significant casualites suffered by the Imperial forces, the ploy worked; soon, Canoness Varia and her surviving Seraphim had smashed a path over the fortified estate and carved a bloody path through to their target. Few survivng accounts outside of the Order's own records relay what exactly transpired when Varia tracked down her quarry. What witnesses and (sealed) Inquisition reports can attest to was that a heated exchange took place between Voss and Varia, before the latter clashed with the surprisingly combat-astute Governor. Subsequant rebel reinforcements - perhaps the last gasp of the estate's beleagured garrison - had cut the Canoness off from her Sisters. It is said that Varia - perhaps sensing some kind of deeper rot in Voss' heart - had railed a final prayer to the God-Emperor and lunged at her foe; a blinding flare of fire engulfed the embattled pair, blasting Sister and rebel alike aside and appeared to consume their two embattled commanders; all that was recovered from the blackened and blasted floor was Varia's smouldering and damaged power sword. With the heart of the rebellion cut out of Sternberg and the Imperium's subsequant triumph, command of the detachment passed to Varia's second-in-command, the young Palatine Neralia Valon. Recognising that Sternberg's brush with rebellion might flare up again - and cognizent of the need of establishing a firmer Imperial hand in Sub-Sector Bacenwold - Valon relayed both her report to the Ordo Hereticus on all that transpired, and a request to establish a permanent Mission of Order Militant Sisters within the Sector. With permission granted weeks later, Valon met with those Sisters who chose to remain within the ruined Bascilica of the Deified God-Emperor in the hive. Each grasped their slain mistress' recovered blade and swore an oath to the God-Emperor and their new Order. Thus, beneath a smog-ridden sky on Sternberg, the Order of the Ascendant Sword was born. Scouring of Larentis (797.M40) 13th Black Crusade (c. 999.M41) Indomitus Crusade (999.M41- c.100.M42) With southern Imperial space all but cut off from most of Segmentums Obscurus and Ultima by the newly-created ''Cicatrix Maledictum. the Ascendant Sword have been forced to regroup back within Subsector Bachenwold. Though spared from the wrath of the Ruinous Powers, the Order could not move to assist the nascent Indomitus Crusade without either a stable Warp path to the Crusade's route, or before replenishing their numbers and arms. As a result, neither the Ascendant Sword or their Sternbergite allies were able to assist the returned Roboute Guillimann's efforts to reunite the Imperium until local conditions and the status of their forces improved. By around the first century of the 42nd Millenium, the Warp Storms that had plagued Sub-Sector Bachenwold have stabilised enough to allow Imperial merchant and Navy traffic to pass through. Contact with the Imperium has allowed the now-rebuilt Ascendant Sword to begin marshalling for war once again, though it is not known where they will be deployed. Organisation While broadly adhering to Sororitas Militarum organisational protocol and policy, there are a few quirks in how the Order arms itself, is organised and the doctrines that it has inherited over the years. Composition Typical organisation and ranks for the Sororitas Militarum ''have been broadly maintained by the Ascendant Sword, with a Canoness Superior and two lesser Palatines-Preceptor occupying the highest rungs of command. Distribution of squad types among the Order is uneven. Due to their specialization requiring less cumbersome personal armaments and a preference for fast, hard strikes into enemy territory, the Ascendant Sword maintain a higher ratio of Seraphim and mechanized Battle Sisters compared to more conventional ''Orders Minoris, typically supplemented by Dominion squads. Retributors are rarely maintained as seperate units, instead dispatched to each Sororitas squad depending on the operation profile. The Order's heavy emphasis on airborne-capable combatants has further resulted in the rank of Celestian being replaced with Seraphim Exoucia. Acting in a similar capacity to Celestians and promoted on the basis of exemplary service and long-term combat experience, Exoucia are mandated to fight alongside and protect their charges unto death. Many a Sororitas officer's lives have been saved by the intervention of her assigned Exoucia squad - all too frequently, at the cost of a wealth of knowledge and faith that could ill-afford to be thrown away wastefully. Doctrine Upon their formation, the Ascendant Sword had inherited from their parent Order Militant a similar sense of altruism and predisposition for their actions over words. It was this example, after all, which had prompted the original Precipatory's Canoness to intervene in a conflict that few - if any - other outside Imperial forces had yet been able to respond to. While capable of being involved in a 'direct-action' capacity on the battlefield, the Ascendant Sword's nominal operational doctrine is to disrupt and destroy a foe's command and control capability. Utilising their emphasis on mobility, the Order cuts into the heart of the enemy's rear lines and rips out the leadership's stranglehold on their army. A high-risk strategy, especially against enemies of the Imperium that have a decentralised command structure (Tyranids, for example), the Order has focused this strategy on those who cannot survive the collapse of their leadership; in particular, Chaos warbands and Traitor Legion elements, Orks and (unsurprisingly) heretics and mutant uprisings. While the Order has proven to be capable of operating alongside other Imperial forces where they are deployed, there is a strong sense of fraternity between the Guard regiments of Sternberg and the Sisterhood of the Ascendant Sword. Aside from the proximity between the two forces, this sense of kinship is reinforced by a sense of gratitude and desire for atonement expressed by veteran Guardsmen involved with Sternberg's liberation. As a result, it is not unheard of for Sternbergite Guardsmen to have fought with greater ferocity alongside the Ascendant Sword, or for the latter to join Guard units in lieu of battlefield Ecclesiarchal priests. The practice has raised concerns within the Departo Munitorum and Sternberg's Cardinal had been contacted more then once regarding allegations of the Order tacitly flouting the Decree Passive. Armoury Notable Sisters of the Ascendant Sword Quotes Other users are free to add their own quotes regarding the Order by their own characters. By Members of the Order About the Order Category:Adepta Sororitas Category:Orders Militant Category:Convent Prioris